Have Liverpool shaken off their early-season struggles?
Andy Robertson celebrates his goal for Liverpool against Wolves in the FA Cup
Galatasaray vs Liverpool – Tuesday, 5.45pm
Liverpool’s trip to Galatasaray at the end of September was a miserable one. Victor Osimhen’s penalty won the league-phase fixture for the Turkish side, there were injuries to Alisson – who also misses Tuesday’s trip to Istanbul – and Hugo Ekitike, and the Reds were poor in both boxes. It formed the beginning of a wretched run which wrecked their Premier League title defence.
But they return to Istanbul in a different place. The shock Premier League loss at Wolves was avenged in the FA Cup on Friday night and, with Florian Wirtz back involved, there is a feeling this Liverpool side are gathering strength and resources for a big push towards success at the end of this season. They are not of their level last year – but they may still have enough to challenge across two-leg ties in Europe.
With the second leg of this last-16 match-up at Anfield, Liverpool just need to ensure they don’t go the way of Juventus, who combusted 5-2 at Galatasaray in the first match of their knockout play-off. Juve battled back to almost turn that around in Turin, so the neutral can at least hope for more fireworks.
Peter Smith
A welcome distraction or inconvenience for Spurs?
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Highlights from the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace
Atletico Madrid vs Spurs – Tuesday, 8pm
What a strange situation. Qualifying for the Champions League is a huge priority for so many teams. They spend entire seasons pursuing a spot in the competition through league or cup success, with the prestige and financial rewards so valuable. But Spurs – having made it through with their Europa League triumph – may feel they’d be better off not having to face Atletico Madrid in the midst of their Premier League relegation battle.
Igor Tudor’s squad is already down to the bare bones, shot of confidence and badly in need of some training-ground time to come up with a structure which can scramble them to top-flight survival. But instead, still reeling from Thursday’s humbling at home to Crystal Palace, they are back into battle against Diego Simeone’s Atleti. Tudor himself said the situation is not “ideal”.
It is the strange paradox of Spurs’ season that they have been successful so far in the Champions League, Thomas Frank steering them comfortably into the knockouts while it was all falling apart domestically. Atleti aren’t the team they once were either but any consideration of Spurs progressing further in this competition is overshadowed by that dark cloud of Premier League relegation.
A welcome distraction or better off out of it? Like many issues at Spurs right now, supporters may well be divided.
Peter Smith
Howe and Newcastle aim to make history in club’s ‘biggest game’
Harvey Barnes celebrates scoring for Newcastle against Man City
Newcastle vs Barcelona – Tuesday, 8pm
Eddie Howe has billed this match as the biggest in Newcastle’s history. Expect the home fans in St James’ Park to treat it the same way.
As noted by both Howe and Pep Guardiola after Manchester City’s comeback win there on Saturday, when Newcastle start with intensity they are extremely difficult to contain. The question is whether they can sustain it.
Howe says his side “ran out of gas” against City but, having protected Anthony Gordon and Joelinton with substitute roles in that Premier League game, the hope will be they can make a fast start count and then keep the pressure on a Barcelona side which tops LaLiga but has shown vulnerability at times this term.
The fixture evokes memories of Bobby Robson. On Newcastle’s biggest night, Howe will hope he and his players can write a special chapter in the club’s history books of their own.
Peter Smith
Kane’s fitness in focus
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Nico Schlotterbeck’s careless challenge inside the box gifts Bayern Munich a penalty which Harry Kane powers in
Atalanta vs Bayern – Tuesday, 8pm
It’s the news England fans were fearing – Harry Kane out of action with injury.
Bayern boss Vincent Kompany insists he is “relaxed” about the calf issue which sidelined in-form Kane for the Bundesliga game at Borussia Monchengladbach on Friday but Three Lions supporters will be hoping to see evidence of a quick recovery when the German giants go to Atalanta on Tuesday night.
Kane has been in ridiculous goal-scoring form. His double in Der Klassiker at Borussia Dortmund capped a brilliant display and he has scored 11 in his past seven appearances as he chases more goal records. If he can keep it up until the end of the season, England’s World Cup prospects will be seriously enhanced.
But whether it is Kane or Nicolas Jackson up top for Bayern, they will have to be wary against an Atalanta side which put four past Dortmund themselves to reach this stage and bagged three at Eintracht Frankfurt in their other meeting with a Bundesliga opponent this term.
Peter Smith
Are perfect Arsenal ready to answer critics?
Bayer Leverkusen vs Arsenal – Wednesday, 5.45pm
There is no doubting Mikel Arteta is aware of the expectation surrounding Arsenal. Performances of late suggest his players are too. The reality of still being alive in all four competitions this far into the season is taking effect, not just in terms of physical exhaustion but emotional toil as well.
This group are desperate to deliver and that has meant certain games have become tense, ragged affairs, where the football matters much less than the outcome. Take Saturday’s 2-1 win over League One side Mansfield as case in point.
Arteta presumably cares little about the criticism his side are attracting given the state of play, only focused on how to turn a campaign with such vast potential into one that ends in silverware. The irony of being branded a team that play ‘boring football’ and yet the only side in the Champions League knockout stage with a perfect record still intact will not be lost on him.
The Gunners won all eight games in the league phase – the first to do so under the new format. Unlike many Premier League encounters, Arsenal’s flair players have found themselves with the time and space to get creative, opening the scoring in every game so far and hitting three or more goals in the last six.
If Bayer Leverkusen have done their homework they will try to make the pitch as tight and compact as possible to stop Arsenal doing to them what they have done to each opponent so far. That will not be easy for a Leverkusen side who conceded more goals than they scored in the league phase, and finished 16th. This is Arsenal’s chance to prove some doubters wrong.
Laura Hunter
City can make statement against injury-hit Real Madrid
Real Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe, left, and Jude Bellingham
Real Madrid vs Man City – Wednesday, 8pm
Manchester City and Real Madrid has fast become the modern-day Champions League rivalry thanks in large part to being drawn against each other in the knockout stages every season for the last five seasons.
We have seen them play in a knockout-play-off, a quarter-final and two semi-finals since the 2019/20 season. Now they meet again in the last 16 and City have plenty of reasons to be optimistic about their chances against the 15-time Champions League winners.
This is hardly a vintage Real Madrid side and they are missing key players. Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham are reportedly not expected to recover in time for the first leg, while Rodrygo has been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ACL injury.
City can also take confidence from the fact they have already beaten Real Madrid at the Bernabeu this season. It was a magnificent performance from Pep Guardiola’s side, recovering to win 2-1 thanks to goals from Nico O’Reilly and Erling Haaland.
This was just the latest example of Real Madrid struggling to keep up with the intensity against a Premier League side. They have lost four in a row against English teams in the Champions League and there is a growing case to suggest they are lagging behind.
Arsenal demonstrated exactly this point in last season’s quarter-finals by dismantling the holders with a 5-1 aggregate win. You can never count Real Madrid out in this competition, but this tie presents City with the chance to make a statement.
Zinny Boswell
Time for Rosenior to lay down a marker with Chelsea fans?
Liam Rosenior is one of only two Ligue 1 coaches Luis Enrique’s PSG have dropped points against at home this season
PSG vs Chelsea – Wednesday, 8pm
If Liam Rosenior has learnt anything from predecessor Enzo Maresca, he may have noted the difference a win over PSG can make for a Chelsea boss.
This might not be the Club World Cup final but the opportunity remains for Rosenior to turn this Champions League last-16 tie into a statement victory, to go some way towards shaking off the somewhat unkind tag of ‘LinkedIn Liam’ thrown at him from some quarters and prove he has the seriousness needed to succeed at Stamford Bridge.
That is something which took Maresca long enough despite leading the club back to the Champions League and winning the Conference League and Club World Cup in his only full season in charge. Rosenior has faced an arguably tougher hill to climb given the optics of his internal appointment from Chelsea’s sister club Strasbourg.
Some of Rosenior’s public comments, team selections and tinkering have not done a great deal to quell those questions over his suitability for a fan base with fond memories of Mourinho, Conte and Ancelotti and some famous European nights in west London. But the scalp of the same Champions League holders who beat English sides in every knockout round last season would help elevate his credibility in the eyes of those Chelsea fans.
Rosenior knows Luis Enrique’s PSG as well as any manager left in the competition given he managed in Ligue 1 for 18 months up to joining Chelsea, and his Strasbourg side remain one of only two sides to come away from the Parc des Princes unbeaten in the league thanks to a 3-3 draw in October. Strasbourg had even led 3-1 at one point and would have gone top of the table that night had they held on to victory.
There have been encouraging signs for the Blues boss who hit on the right formula in the 4-1 win at Aston Villa last week – but then needed extra-time to scrape past Wrexham in the FA Cup after making nine changes in north Wales.
If there are no more line-up surprises, like the starting 11 at Napoli in their final league phase game, there is no reason Rosenior cannot leave Paris satisfied for the second time this season.
Ron Walker
